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PS2966 

M49 

1907 


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A  SELECTION  FROM 


A  SELECTION  FROM 
THE   VERSES   OF 

JOHN  B.  TABB 

Made  by  ALICE  MEYNELL 


SMALL,  MAYNARD  fcp  COMPANY 
BOSTON 

1907 


To 
ALICE  MEYNELL 

the  Maker  of  this 

Selection 

With  the  Author  s  very  grateful 

Acknowledgment  of  her 

Kindness 


THE  CONTENTS 

The  Playmates       Page  i 

Father  Damien    Page  26 

My  Captive 

2 

Angels  of  Pain 

26 

The  Reaper 

3 

God's  Likeness 

27 

Influence 

4 

To  the  Christ 

28 

Wayfarers 

5 

My  Mediator 

28 

To  the  Sphinx 

6 

"Is    thy   Servant   a 

Love's  Autograph 

6 

Dog?" 

29 

Slumber-Song 

7 

Limitation 

30 

Our  First-born 

8 

The  Young  Tenor 

31 

To  Silence 

9 

Outlines 

32 

The  Expeded  of  Na- 

Nekros 

33 

tions 

10 

"Vox  Clamantis" 

34 

The  Postulant 

10 

To  a  Photograph 

35 

At  the  Year's  End 

1  1 

Frost 

36 

Killdee 

12 

The  Statue 

37 

The  Whip-Poor-  Will 

13 

The  Pilgrim 

38 

Star-Jessamine 

14 

The  Mid-Sea  Sun 

38 

Clover 

15 

The  Lonely  Moun- 

To the  Violet 

16 

tain 

39 

The  Water-Lily 

17 

An  Influence 

4° 

Mignonette 

18 

Whisper 

4» 

An  Idolater 

18 

Anticipation 

4i 

To  her  First-born 

*9 

The  Precursor 

42 

Aspiration 

20 

Wood-grain 

43 

Childhood 

21 

Consecration 

44 

To  the  Babe  Niva 

22 

Regret 

45 

Good  Night  ! 

22 

Compensation 

46 

Missing 

23 

A  Remonstrance 

47 

Confided 

24 

Soothsayers 

48 

"Chanticleer" 

25 

The  Artfic 

49 

viij               THE  C 

ONTENTS 

Evolution             Page 

50 

December             Page 

76 

Spectators 

51 

The  Lark 

77 

The  Lost  Anchor 

52 

The  Fall  of  the  Spar- 

To My  Shadow 

53 

row 

77 

Cleopatra  to  the  Asp 

54 

The  Marsh 

78 

Intimations 

55 

Fulfilment 

79 

Loves  Hybla 

56 

Betrayal 

79 

The  Sleeping  Beauty 

57 

The  Dayspring 

80 

Adieu 

58 

The  Midday  Moon 

80 

Westward 

59 

Meadow  Frogs 

81 

Memory 

60 

Fern  Song 

82 

Light  in  Darkness 

61 

Winter  Trees 

83 

Bereft 

62 

Baby's  Dimples 

83 

Outspeeded 

63 

A  Bunch  of  Roses 

84 

Vale 

64 

To  a  Star 

85 

O'erspent 

64 

Beethoven  and  Angelo 

86 

Wrecked 

65 

Milton 

86 

Bread 

66 

Shelley 

87 

Sand 

67 

Shelley  in  Nature 

88 

Life 
The  Truant 
The  Bubble 

68 
69 
69 

Keats  —  Sappho 
Poe's  Purgatory 
Silence 

89 
90 

91 

The  Mist 

70 

Daybreak 

92 

The  Brook 

70 

Glimpses 

93 

The  Lake 

71 

Homeless 

Q4- 

Ice 

72 

Unmoored 

7T 

oc 

A  Sunset 
Midnight 

73 

74 

The  Agony 
The  Petrel 

7  J 
96 
07 

Autumn 

74 

The  Portrait 

s  1 
08 

Odtober 
Indian  Summer 

75 
76 

The  Boy  Bishop           99 
Asleep                         i  oo 

THE  CO 

NTENTS               xi 

St  Afra  to  the    Page 

The  Lamb-Child/*^  I  1  1 

Flames                     I  o  i 

Out  of  Bounds            1  1  1 

An  Interpreter            102 

A  Lenten  Thought    1  1  z 

Earth's  Tribute           103 

On  Calvary                 113 

Holy  Ground              103 

Mater  Dolorosa          113 

The  Householders      104 

Stabat                          1  14 

Insomnia                       104 

Rabboni!                      114 

Anonymous                 105 

Easter  Morning          115 

BartimeustotheBird  105 

Easter  Lilies                1  1  5 

The  Old  Pastor          106 

Easter  Lambs              1  16 

At  Sea                          1  06 

The  Assumption         116 

Stilling  the  Tempest   107 

Triumph                      1  1  7 

All  in  All                    107 

My  Angel                    1  1  8 

The  Good  Seed  108-109 

To  Her  Three  Days' 

The  Angel's  Christ- 

Child                      119 

mas  Quest               1  10 

Ave  atque  Vale           120 

THE    PLAYMATES 


w 


THE  PLAYMATES 
HO  are  thy  playmates,  boy? 


"My  favourite  is  Joy, 
Who  brings  with  him  his  sister,  Peace,  to  stay 
The  livelong  day. 
I  love  them  both;  but  he 
Is  most  to  me." 

And  where  thy  playmates  now, 

O  man  of  sober  brow  ? 

"Alas!  dear  Joy,  the  merriest,  is  dead. 

But  I  have  wed 

Peace;  and  our  babe,  a  boy 

New-born,  is  Joy." 


MY   CAPTIVE 


MY  CAPTIVE 

I  BROUGHT  a  Blossom  home  with  me 
Beneath  my  roof  to  stay ; 
But  timorous  and  frail  was  she, 

And  died  before  the  day: 
She  missed  the  measureless  expanse 
Of  heaven,  and  heaven  her  countenance. 


THE   REAPER 


T 


THE  REAPER 

ELL  me  whither,  maiden  June, 
Down  the  dusky  slope  of  noon, 
With  thy  sickle  of  a  moon, 
Goest  thou  to  reap. 

"  Fields  of  Fancy  by  the  stream 
Of  night  in  silvery  silence  gleam, 
To  heap  with  many  a  harvest-dream 
The  granary  of  Sleep." 


INFLUENCE 


INFLUENCE 

HE  cannot  as  he  came  depart — 
The  wind  that  woos  the  rose; 
Her  fragrance  whispers  in  his  heart 
Wherever  hence  he  goes. 


WAYFARERS 


WAYFARERS 

O  COMRADE  Sun,  that  day  by  day 
Dost  weave  a  shadow  on  my  way, 
Lest,  in  the  luxury  of  light, 
My  soul  forget  the  neighbouring  night: 
Wilt  thou  whene'er,  my  journey  done, 
Thou  wanderest  our  path  upon, 
Bear  in  thy  beams  a  memory 
Of  one  who  walked  the  world  with  thee, 
Or  mourn,  amid  the  lavishness 
Of  Life,  one  hovering  shade  the  less  ? 


LOVE'S   AUTOGRAPH 


A 


TO  THE  SPHINX 
H,  not  alone  in  Egypt's  desert  land 


dwelling-place  apart  ! 
But  wheresoe'er  the  scorching  passion-sand 
Hath  seared  the  human  heart. 


LOVE'S  AUTOGRAPH 

ONCE  only  did  he  pass  my  way. 
"  When  wilt  thou  come  again  ? 
Ah,  leave  some  token  of  thy  stay  ! " 
He  wrote  (and  vanished),  "  Pain." 


SLUMBER-SONG 


SLUMBER-SONG 

SLEEP  !  the  spirits  that  attend 
On  thy  waking  hours  are  fled. 
Heaven  thou  canst  not  now  offend 

Till  thy  slumber-plumes  are  shed  ; 
Consciousness  alone  doth  lend 

Life  its  pain,  and  Death  its  dread  ; 
Innocence  and  Peace  befriend 
All  the  sleeping  and  the  dead. 


OUR   FIRST-BORN 


OUR  FIRST-BORN 

IT  died  so  young!  and  yet 
Of  all  that  vanished  hence, 
Is  none  to  lingering  Regret 
So  lost  as  Innocence. 

For  wheresoe'er  we  go, 

Whatever  else  remain, 
That  Favourite  of  Heaven  we  know 

We  shall  not  find  again. 


TO   SILENCE 


w 


TO  SILENCE 

hy  the  warning  finger-tip 
Pressed  for  ever  on  my  lip? 


To  remind  the  pilgrim  Sound 
That  it  moves  on  holy  ground, 
In  a  breathing-space  to  be 
Hushed  for  all  eternity. 


io  THE   POSTULANT 


THE  POSTULANT 

IN  ashes  from  the  wasted  fires  of  noon, 
Aweary  of  the  light, 
Comes  evening,  a  tearful  novice,  soon 
To  take  the  veil  of  night. 


THE  EXPECTED  OF  NATIONS 

WHILE  Shepherd  Stars  their  nightly  vigils 
keep 

Above  the  clouds  of  sleep, 
Long  prophesied,  behold  the  man-child,  Morn, 
Again  is  born. 


AT   THE   YEAR'S   END       n 


AT  THE  YEAR'S  END 

NIGHT  dreams  of  day,  and  winter  seems 
In  sleep  to  breathe  the  balm  of  May. 
Their  dreams  are  true  anon;  but  they, 
The  dreamers,  then,  alas,  are  dreams. 

Thus,  while  our  days  the  dreams  renew 

Of  some  forgotten  sleeper,  we, 

The  dreamers  of  futurity, 

Shall  vanish  when  our  own  are  true. 


12  KILLDEE 


KILLDEE 

j^ILLDEE!  Killdee!  far  o'er  the  lea 
J\.At  twilight  comes  the  cry. 
Killdee!  a  marsh-mate  answereth 
Across  the  shallow  sky. 

Killdee!  Killdee!  thrills  over  me 

A  rhapsody  of  light, 
As  star  to  star  gives  utterance 

Between  the  day  and  night. 

Killdee!  Killdee!  O  Memory, 
The  twin  birds,  Joy  and  Pain, 

Like  shadows  parted  by  the  sun, 
At  twilight  meet  again! 


THE   WHIP-POOR-WILL     13 


THE  WHIP-POOR-WILL 

FROM  yonder  wooded  hill 
I  hear  the  Whip-poor-will, 
Whose  mate  or  wandering  echo  answers  him 
Athwart  the  lowlands  dim. 

He  calls  not  through  the  day; 
But  when  the  shadows  gray 

Across  the  sunset  draw  their  lengthening  veil, 

He  tells  his  twilight  tale. 

What  unforgotten  wrong 
Haunts  the  ill-omened  song  ? 

What  scourge  of  Fate  has  left  its  loathed  mark 

Upon  the  cringing  dark  ? 

"Whip!  Whip-poor-will!" 
O  sobbing  voice,  be  still ! 

Tell  not  again,  O  melancholy  bird, 

The  legend  thou  hast  heard ! 


14  STAR-JESSAMINE 


STAR-JESSAMINE 

DISCERNING  Star  from  Sister  Star, 
We  give  to  each  "its  name; 
But  ye,  O  countless  Blossoms,  are 

In  fragrance  and  in  flame 
So  like,  that  He  from  whom  ye  came 
Alone  discerneth  each  by  name. 


CLOVER  15 


CLOVER 

LITTLE  masters!  hat  in  hand, 
Let  me  in  your  presence  stand, 
Till  your  silence  solve  for  me 
This  your  threefold  mystery. 

Tell  me — for  I  long  to  know — 
How,  in  darkness  there  below, 
Was  your  fairy  fabric  spun, 
Spread  and  fashioned,  three  in  one. 

Did  your  gossips  gold  and  blue, 
Sky  and  Sunshine,  choose  for  you, 
Ere  your  triple  forms  were  seen, 
Suited  liveries  of  green  ? 

Can  ye — if  ye  dwelt  indeed 
Captives  of  a  prison  seed — 
Like  the  Genie,  once  again 
Get  you  back  into  the  grain  ? 

Little  masters,  may  I  stand 
In  your  presence,  hat  in  hand, 
Waiting  till  you  solve  for  me 
This  your  threefold  mystery? 


16          TO   THE   VIOLET 


TO  THE  VIOLET 

SWEET  violet,  who  knows 
From  whence  thy  fragrance  flows 
Or  whither  hence  it  goes  ? 

A  pious  pilgrim  here 
To  Winter's  sepulchre 
Thou  comest  year  by  year; 

Alert  with  balmier  store 
Than  Magdalen  of  yore 
To  Love's  anointing  bore. 

Methinks  that  thou  hast  been 

So  oft  the  go-between 

'Twixt  sight  and  things  unseen 

That  with  thy  wafted  breath 

Alternate  echoeth 

Each  bank  of  sundering  Death. 


THE   WATER-LILY          17 


THE  WATER-LILY 

WHENCE,  O  fragrant  form  of  light, 
Has  thou  drifted  through  the  night, 
Swanlike,  to  a  leafy  nest, 
On  the  restless  waves,  at  rest  ? 

Art  thou  from  the  snowy  zone 
Of  a  mountain-summit  blown, 
Or  the  blossom  of  a  dream, 
Fashioned  in  the  foamy  stream  ? 

Nay,  methinks  the  maiden  moon, 
When  the  daylight  came  too  soon, 
Fleeting  from  her  bath  to  hide, 
Left  her  garment  in  the  tide. 


i8  MIGNONETTE 


MIGNONETTE 

'IVE  me  the  earth,  and  I  might  heap 

mountain  from  the  plain; 
Give  me  the  waters  of  the  deep, 

I  might  their  strength  restrain; 
But  here  a  secret  of  the  sod 
Betrays  the  daintier  hand  of  GOD. 


AN  IDOLATER 

THE  Baby  has  no  skies 
But  Mother's  eyes ; 
Nor  any  GOD  above 

But  Mother's  love. 
His  Angel  sees  the  FATHER'S  face, 

But  He  the  Mother's,  full  of  grace; 
And  yet  the  Heavenly  Kingdom  is 
Of  such  as  this. 


TO   HER   FIRST-BORN       19 


TO  HER  FIRST-BORN 

LONG  I  waited,  wondering 
How,  so  near  my  heart, 
Love  another  life  could  bring, 

Made  of  mine  a  part, 
Nor  let  me,  save  in  fancy,  gaze 
Soul-centred,  on  the  cloistered  face  ! 

But  now,  the  mystery  removed, 
Thou  liest  on  my  breast, 

A  form  so  fervently  beloved, 
So  tenderly  caressed, 

That  as  my  spirit  compassed  thine, 

Thy  soul  the  limit  seems  of  mine. 

So  life,  that  vanishes  anon, 

Perchance  about  us  lies 
Too  near  for  Love  to  look  upon 

With  unanointed  eyes, 
Till,  past  the  interval  of  pain, 
We  clasp  the  living  form  again. 


20  ASPIRATION 


ASPIRATION 

I  ENVY  not  the  sun 
His  lavish  light ; 
But  O  to  be  the  one 
Pale  orb  of  night, 
In  silence  and  alone 
Communing  with  mine  own! 

I  envy  not  the  rain 

That  freshens  all 
The  parching  hill  and  plain  ; 

But  O  the  small 
Night-dewdrop  now  to  be, 
My  noonday  flower,  for  thee! 


CHILDHOOD  21 


CHILDHOOD 

OLD  Sorrow  I  shall  meet  again, 
And  Joy,  perchance — but  never,  never, 
Happy  Childhood,  shall  we  twain 
See  each  other's  face  for  ever! 

And  yet  I  would  not  call  thee  back, 
Dear  Childhood,  lest  the  sight  of  me, 

Thine  old  companion,  on  the  rack 
Of  Age,  should  sadden  even  thee. 


22  GOODNIGHT! 


TO  THE  BABE  NIVA 

NIVA,  Child  of  Innocence, 
Dust  to  dust  we  go  : 
Thou,  when  Winter  wooed  thee  hence, 
Wentest  snow  to  snow. 


GOOD  NIGHT ! 

GOOD  night,  dear  LORD!  and  now 
Let  them  that  loved  to  keep 
Thy  little  bed  in  Bethlehem, 
Be  near  me  while  I  sleep; 
For  I — more  helpless,  LORD — of  them 
Have  greater  need  than  Thou. 


MISSING  23 


MISSING 

THOU    that  didst  leave  the  ninety  and  the 
nine 

To  seek  the  one, 

Behold,  among  the  many  that  are  mine, 
A  lamb  is  gone. 

The  one  perchance  the  worthiest  to  be, 

Dear  LORD,  with  Thee  ; 
And  so  the  saddest  for  the  Mother's  heart 

With  him  to  part. 

O  Thou,  Thyself  a  mourning  Mother's  Son, 
Fold  close  my  little  one! 


24  CONFIDED 


CONFIDED 
A  NOTHER  lamb,  O  Lamb  of  GOD,  behold, 


.  Within  this  quiet  fold, 
Among  Thy  Father's  sheep 

I  lay  to  sleep! 
A  heart  that  never  for  a  night  did  rest 

Beyond  its  mother's  breast. 

LORD,  keep  it  close  to  Thee, 
Lest  waking  it  should  bleat  and  pine  for  me! 


CHANTICLEER"  25 


"  CHANTICLEER  " 

A  CROWING,  cuddling  little  Babe  was  he, 
./~VA  child  for  little  children  far  or  near. 
When  he  stood  and  crowed  upon  his  mother's 

knee, 

The  morning  echoed,  "  Welcome,  Chanti- 
cleer!" 
He  was  a  crowing,  cuddling  little  Babe! 

When  his  mother  wore,  alas,  her  life  away, 
He  was  wonder  wide  to  see  the  children  weep; 

But  he  crowed,  and  cuddled  close  enough  to  lay 
His  head  upon  her  heart,  and  went  to  sleep: — 

He  was  a  cuddling,  crowing  little  Babe! 

God  Himself  was  tender  to  him;  for,  behold, 
An  Angel  in  a  dream  (the  children  said) 

Came  and  kissed  him  till  his  little  cheek  was  cold; 
So  he  never  saw  the  tears  the  Twilight  shed. 

He  was  a  crowing,  cuddling  little  Babe! 


26  ANGELS   OF   PAIN 


FATHER  DAMIEN 

OGOD,  the  cleanest  offering 
Of  tainted  earth  below, 
Unblushing  to  Thy  feet  we  bring — 
"A  leper  white  as  snow!" 


ANGELS  OF  PAIN 

AH,  should  they  come  revisiting  the  spot 
Whence  by  our  prayers  we  drove  them 
utterly, 

Shame  were  it  for  their  saddened  eyes  to  see 
How  soon  their  visitations  are  forgot. 


GOD'S   LIKENESS  27 


GOD'S  LIKENESS 

NOT  in  mine  own,  but  in  my  neigh- 
bour's face 

Must  I  Thine  image  trace: 
Nor  he  in  his,  but  in  the  light  of  mine, 
Behold  Thy  Face  Divine. 


28  MY    MEDIA  TOR 


TO  THE  CHRIST 

THOU  hast  on  earth  a  Trinity — 
Thyself,  my  fellow-man  and  me; 
When  one  with  him,  then  one  with  Thee; 
Nor,  save  together,  Thine  are  we. 


MY  MEDIATOR 

" "VJ ONE  betwixt  GOD  and  me ? 
.1^1  Behold,  my  neighbour,  thee 
Unto  His  lofty  throne 
He  makes  my  stepping-stone." 


"IS  THY  SERVANT  A  DOG?"    29 


"IS  THY  SERVANT  A  DOG?" 

SO  must  he  be  who,  in  the  crowded  street, 
Where  shameless  Sin  and  flaunting  Pleasure 

meet, 

Amid  the  noisome  footprints  finds  the  sweet 
Faint  vestige  of  Thy  feet. 


LIMITATION 


LIMITATION 

BREATHE  above  me  or  below ; 
Never  canst  thou  farther  go 
Than  the  spirit's  octave-span, 
Harmonizing  God  and  Man. 

Thus  within  the  iris-bound 
Light  a  prisoner  is  found ; 
Thus  within  my  soul  I  see 
Life  in  Time's  captivity. 


THE   YOUNG  TENOR       31 


THE  YOUNG  TENOR 

I  WOKE ;  the  harboured  melody 
Had  crossed  the  slumber  bar, 
And  out  upon  the  open  sea 

Of  consciousness,  afar 
Swept  onward  with  a  fainter  strain, 
As  echoing  the  dream  again. 

So  soft  the  silver  sound,  and  clear, 
Outpoured  upon  the  night, 

That  Silence  seemed  a  listener 
O'erleaning  with  delight 

The  slender  moon,  a  finger-tip 

Upon  the  portal  of  her  lip. 


32  OUTLINES 


OUTLINES 

O  FRAME  me  in  thy  love,  as  I 
The  landscape  in  the  branches  low  ; 
That  none  beneath  the  bending  sky 
Our  sylvan  secret  know. 

For  'tis  of  Life  the  mystery 
That,  whereso'er  its  fibres  run, 

In  time  or  in  eternity, 
The  many  shape  the  one. 


N  E  K  R  O  S  33 


NEKROS 

LO  !  all  thy  glory  gone ! 
GOD'S  masterpiece  undone! 
The  last  created  and  the  first  to  fall ; 
The  noblest,  frailest,  godliest  of  all. 

Death  seems  the  conqueror  now, 

And  yet  his  victor  thou  : 

The  fatal  shaft  its  venom  quenched  in  thee, 

A  mortal  raised  to  immortality. 

Child  of  the  humble  sod, 

Wed  with  the  breath  of  GOD, 

Descend  !  for  with  the  lowest  thou  must  lie — 

Arise !  thou  hast  inherited  the  sky. 


34       "VOX   CLAMANTIS" 


o 


"VOX  CLAMANTIS" 

SEA,  for  ever  calling  to  the  shore 

With  menace  or  caress, — 
A  voice  like  his  unheeded  that  of  yore 

Cried  in  the  wilderness ; 
A  deep  for  ever  yearning  unto  deep, 

For  silence  out  of  sound, — 
Thy  restlessness  the  cradle  of  a  sleep 

That  thou  hast  never  found. 


TO   A   PHOTOGRAPH       35 


TO  A  PHOTOGRAPH 

O  TENDER  shade ! 
Lone  captive  of  enamoured  Light, 
That  from  an  angel  visage  bright 
A  glance  betrayed. 

Dost  thou  not  sigh 
To  wander  from  thy  prison-place? 
To  seek  again  the  vanished  face, 

Or  else  to  die? 

A  shade  like  thee, 

Dim  Eidolon — a  dream  disproved — 
A  memory  of  light  removed, 

Behold  in  me  ! 


36  FROST 


I 


FROST 

LEFT  my  window  wide,  for  Love 
To  enter  while  I  slept : 
The  moon,  his  homeward  path  above 
Her  midnight  vigil  kept. 

But  suddenly,  as  o'er  a  glass, 

A  clouding  vapour  spread  ; 
The  heavens  were  cold  :  and  Love,  alas! 

Before  the  dawn  was  dead. 


THE    STATUE  37 


THE  STATUE 

FIRST  fashioned  in  the  artist's  brain, 
It  stood  as  in  the  marble  vein 
Revealed  to  him  alone ; 
Nor  could  he  from  its  native  night 
Have  led  it  to  the  living  light, 
Save  through  the  lifeless  stone. 

E'en  so,  of  Silence  and  of  Sound 
A  twin-born  mystery  is  found, 

Like  as  of  death  and  birth  ; 
Without  the  pause  we  had  not  heard 
The  harmony,  nor  caught  the  word 

That  Heaven  reveals  to  Earth. 


38         THE   MID-SEA   SUN 


THE  PILGRIM 

WHEN,  but  a  child,  I  wandered  hence, 
Another  child — sweet  Innocence, 
My  sister — went  with  me : 
But  I  have  lost  her,  and  am  fain 
To  seek  her  in  the  home  again 
Where  we  were  wont  to  be. 


THE  MID-SEA  SUN 

NO  peak  to  hide  his  splendour  till  the  day 
Has  passed  away ; 
Nor  dial-shade  of  any  tree  or  flower 

To  mark  the  hour : 
A  wave  his  orient  cradle,  and  a  wave 
His  western  grave. 


THE   LONELY    MOUNTAIN     39 


THE  LONELY  MOUNTAIN 

ONE  bird,  that  ever  with  the  wakening  spring 
Was  wont  to  sing, 

I  wait,  through  all  my  woodlands,  far  and  near, 
In  vain  to  hear. 

The  voice  of  many  waters,  silent  long, 

Breaks  forth  in  song; 
Young  breezes  to  the  listening  leaves  outpour 

Their  heavenly  lore : 

A  thousand  other  winged  warblers  sweet, 

Returning,  greet 
Their  fellows,  and  rebuild  upon  my  breast 

The  wonted  nest. 

But  unto  me  one  fond  familiar  strain 

Comes  not  again — 
A  breath  whose  faintest  echo,  farthest  heard, 

A  mountain  stirred. 


40  AN   INFLUENCE 


AN  INFLUENCE 

I  SEE  thee, — heaven's  unclouded  face 
A  vacancy  around  thee  made, 
Its  sunshine  a  subservient  grace 
Thy  lovelier  light  to  shade. 

I  feel  thee,  as  the  billows  feel 
A  river  freshening  the  brine ; 

A  life's  libation  poured  to  heal 
The  bitterness  of  mine. 


ANTICIPATION 


WHISPER 

CLOSE  cleaving  unto  Silence,  into  sound 
She  ventures  as  a  timorous  child  from  land, 
Still  glancing,  at  each  wary  step,  around, 
Lest  suddenly  she  lose  her  sister's  hand. 


ANTICIPATION 

THE  master  scans  the  woven  score 
Of  subtle  harmonies,  before 
A  note  is  stirred; 
And  Nature  now  is  pondering 
The  tidal  symphony  of  Spring, 
As  yet  unheard. 


42  THE   PRECURSOR 


THE  PRECURSOR 
S  John  of  old  before  His  face  did  go 
o  make  the  rough  ways  smooth,  that  all 

might  know 
The  level  road  that  leads  to  Bethlehem,  lo, 
I  come,"  proclaims  the  snow. 


WOOD-GRAIN  43 


T 


WOOD-GRAIN 

HIS  is  the  way  that  the  sap-river  ran 
From  the  root  to  the  top  of  the  tree — 
Silent  and  dark, 
Under  the  bark, 
Working  a  wonderful  plan 
That  the  leaves  never  know, 
And  the  branches  that  grow 
On  the  brink  of  the  tide  never  see. 


44  CONSECRATION 


CONSECRATION 

THE  Twilight  to  my  Star, 
Her  hoary  head 
A  Hope  receding  far, 
To  Life  re-led. 

Apart  and  poor  I  lay, 

My  fevered  frame 
Slow  withering  away, 

When  soft  she  came, 

From  comfort,  to  my  care; 

And  Pity  sweet 
Subdued  her,  kneeling  there, 

To  kiss  my  feet. 

A  Magdalen  adored 
Her  GOD  in  Thee: — 

A  greater  love,  O  LORD, 
Anointed  me. 


REGRET 45 


REGRET 

WHAT  pleading  passion  or  the  dark 
Hath  left  the  Morning  pale  ? 
She  listens!  "  'Tis,  alas,  the  Lark, 

And  not  the  Nightingale! 
O  for  the  gloom-encircled  sphere, 

Whose  solitary  bird 
Outpours  for  Love's  awakening  ear 
What  noon  hath  never  heard!" 


46  COMPENSATION 


COMPENSATION 

HOW  many  an  acorn  falls  to  die 
For  one  that  makes  a  tree! 
How  many  a  heart  must  pass  me  by 
For  one  that  cleaves  to  me! 

How  many  a  suppliant  wave  of  sound 

Must  still  unheeded  roll, 
For  one  low  utterance  that  found 

An  echo  in  my  soul! 


A    REMONSTRANCE         47 


A  REMONSTRANCE 

SING  me  no  more,  sweet  warbler,  for  the  dart 
Of  joy  is  keener  than  the  flash  of  pain: 
Sing  me  no  more,  for  the  re-echoed  strain 
Together  with  the  silence  breaks  my  heart. 


48  SOOTHSAYERS 


SOOTHSAYERS 

THE  winds  that,  gipsy-wise,  foretold 
The  fortune  of  to-day, 
At  twilight,  with  the  gathered  gold 
Of  sunset,  stole  away: 

And  of  their  cloud  accomplices 

That  prophesied  the  rain, 
Upon  the  night-forsaken  skies 

No  vestiges  remain. 


THE   ARCTIC  49 


THE  ARCTIC    %% 

IS  it  a  shroud  or  bridal  veil 
That  hides  it  from  our  sight, 
The  lonely  sepulchre  of  Day, 
Or  banquet-hall  of  Night? 

Are  those  the  lights  of  revelry 
That  glimmer  o'er  the  deep, 

Or  flashes  of  a  funeral  pyre 
Above  the  corpse  of  Sleep? 

Beyond  those  peaks  impregnable 

Of  everlasting  snow, 
One  star — a  steadfast  beacon — burns 

To  guard  the  coast  below. 

Whence  come  the  ghostly  galleons 

The  pirate  Sun  to  brave, 
And  furl  the  shadowy  flag  of  Death 

Above  a  warmer  grave  ? 


50  EVOLUTION 


o 


EVOLUTION 

UT  of  the  dusk  a  shadow, 


Then,  a  spark; 
Out  of  the  cloud  a  silence, 

Then,  a  lark; 
Out  of  the  heart  a  rapture, 

Then,  a  pain; 
Out  of  the  dead  cold  ashes, 

Life  again. 


SPECTATORS 


SPECTATORS 

AROUND  us,  wheresoe'er  we  tread, 
The  while  our  shadows  pass  them  by, 
As  in  Bethsaida's  porch  the  dead 

With  upturned  faces  lie, 
Dreading,  perchance,  the  vanished  light, 

And  Lire's  subsided  fever-breath, 
As  we  the  charnel-house  of  Night 
Beyond  the  Vale  of  Death. 


52      THE    LOST   ANCHOR 


THE  LOST  ANCHOR 

AH,  sweet  it  was  to  feel  the  strain, 
What  time,  unseen,  the  ship  above 
Stood  steadfast  to  the  storm  that  strove 
To  rend  our  kindred  cords  atwain  ! 

To  feel,  as  feel  the  roots  that  grow 
In  darkness  when  the  stately  tree 
Resists  the  tempests,  that  in  me 

High  Hope  was  planted  far  below ! 

But  now,  as  when  a  mother's  breast 
Misses  the  babe,  my  prisoned  power 
Deep-yearning,  heart-like,  hour  by  hour, 

Unquiet  aches  in  cankering  rest. 


TOMYSHADOW  53 


TO  MY  SHADOW 

FRIEND  for  ever  in  the  light 
Cleaving  to  my  side, 
Harbinger  of  endless  night 
That  must  soon  betide; 

"Hither,"  seemest  thou  to  say, 
"From  the  twilight  now: 

In  the  darkness  when  I  stay, 
Never  thence  wilt  thou." 


54     CLEOPATRA   TO   THE   ASP 


CLEOPATRA  TO  THE  ASP 

"  'Dost  thou  not  see  my  baby  at  my  breast, 
That  suc{s  the  nurse  asleep  ?  " 

LIE  thou  where  Life  hath  lain, 
And  let  thy  swifter  pain 
His  rival  prove ; 
Till,  like  the  fertile  Nile, 
Death  buries,  mile  for  mile, 
This  waste  of  Love. 

Soft !  Soft !  A  sweeter  kiss 
Than  Antony's  is  this  ! 

O  regal  Shade, 
Luxurious  as  sleep, 
Upon  thy  bosom  deep 

My  heart  is  laid. 


INTIMATIONS  55 


INTIMATIONS 

I  KNEW  the  flowers  had  dreamed  of  you, 
And  hailed  the  morning  with  regret ; 
For  all  their  faces  with  the  dew 
Of  vanished  joy  were  wet. 

I  knew  the  winds  had  passed  your  way, 
Though  not  a  sound  the  truth  betrayed ; 

About  their  pinions  all  the  day 
A  summer  fragrance  stayed. 

And  so,  awaking  or  asleep, 

A  memory  of  lost  delight 
By  day  the  sightless  breezes  keep, 

And  silent  flowers  by  night. 


56  LOVE'S   HYBLA 


LOVE'S  HYBLA 

MY  thoughts  fly  to  thee,  as  the  bees 
To  find  their  favourite  flower ; 
Then  home,  with  honeyed  memories 
Of  many  a  fragrant  hour : 

For  with  thee  is  the  place  apart 
Where  sunshine  ever  dwells, 

The  Hybla,  whence  my  hoarding  heart 
Would  fill  its  wintry  cells. 


THE   SLEEPING   BEAUTY     57 


THE  SLEEPING  BEAUTY 

THE  sculptor  in  the  marble  found 
Her  hidden  from  the  world  around, 
As  in  a  donjon  keep : 
With  gentle  hand  he  took  away 
The  coverlet  that  o'er  her  lay, 
But  left  her  fast  asleep. 

And  still  she  slumbers ;  e'en  as  he 
Who  saw  in  far  futurity 

What  now  before  us  lies — 
The  fairest  vision  that  the  stream 
Of  night,  subsiding,  leaves  agleam 

Beneath  the  noonday  skies. 


58  ADIEU 


ADIEU 

GOD  speed  thee  setting  Sun  ! 
Thy  beams  for  me  have  spun 
Of  light  to-day 
A  memory  that  one 
Alone  could  bring,  and  none 
Can  take  away. 


WESTWARD  59 


WESTWARD 

AND  dost  thou  lead  him  hence  with  thee, 
O  setting  sun, 
And  leave  the  shadows  all  to  me, 

When  he  is  gone  ? 
Ah,  if  my  grief  his  guerdon  be, 

My  dark  his  light, 
I  count  each  loss  felicity, 
And  bless  the  night. 


60  MEMORY 


MEMORY 

LO,  the  Blossom  to  the  Bee 
Yields  not  more  than  thou  to  me- 
Food  for  Love  to  live  upon 
When  the  summer  days  are  gone, 
Poorer  than  they  came,  to  find 
What  was  sweetest  left  behind. 


LIGHT   IN    DARKNESS      61 


LIGHT  IN  DARKNESS 

THE  day — of  sorrows  pitiless — 
Proclaims  "  He  is  not  here"; 
But  never  hath  the  tenderness 
Of  Night  denied  thee  near. 

Nay,  with  the  twilight  sympathy 

Returning  from  afar, 
She  wakes  again  for  memory 

The  dawn-extinguished  star. 


62  BEREFT 


BEREFT 

AS  when  her  calf  is  taken,  far  and  near 
The  restless  mother  roves, 
So  now  my  heart  lows,  wandering  everywhere, 

To  wake  the  voice  it  loves. 
O  distance,  are  the  echoes  backward  thrown 

In  mockery  of  pain? 

Or  doth  remembered  anguish  of  thine  own 
Bring  them  to  birth  again  ? 


OUTSPEEDED  63 


OUTSPEEDED 

TO-NIGHT  the  onward  rushing  train 
Would  bear  thee  far  from  me  ; 
But,  winged  with  swifter  dreams,  again 
My  spirit  flies  to  thee; 

Nay,  speeding  far  beyond  thee,  waits 

To  welcome  thee  anew, 
Where  Dawn  is  opening  the  gates 

To  let  the  darkness  through. 


64  O'ERSPENT 


VALE 

FAREWELL!  I  go  my  way; 
And  if  in  long  delay 
Thou  must  remain, 
Forget  not,  'tis  the  track 
We  trod,  that  leads  us  back 
To  GOD  again. 


O'ERSPENT 

MY  soul  is  as  a  fainting  noonday  star, 
And  thou,  the  absent  night; 
Haste,  that  thy  healing  shadow  from  afar 
May  touch  me  into  light. 


WRECKED  65 


WRECKED 

DEEP  in  the  forest  glades, 
Where  leafy  welcomes  wooed  our  wander- 
ing way, 

Once  blent  our  shadows  in  the  dallying  shades 
That  round  us  lay. 

Thencetorth,  of  fate  estranged, 

Each  day  beholds  our  widowed  forms  apart: 
The  word,  the  glance,  the  gesture  coldly  changed ! 
As  heart  to  heart. 

But  cometh  night  to  hide 

Life-wrecks,  far  drifted  in  the  noonday  sun, 
And,  lo,  our  shadows  in  the  sombre  tide, 
Again  are  one. 


66  BREAD 


BREAD 

STILL  surmounting  as  I  came 
Wind  and  water,  frost  and  flame, 
Night  and  day,  the  livelong  year, 
From  the  burial-place  of  seed, 
From  the  earth's  maternal  bosom, 
Through  the  root  and  stem  and  blossom, 
To  supply  thy  present  need, 
Have  I  journeyed  here. 


SAND  67 


SAND 

STERILE  sister  though  I  be, 
Twin-born  to  the  barren  Sea, 
Yet  of  all  things  fruitful  we 
Wait  the  end ;  and  presently, 
Lo,  they  are  not !  Then  to  me 
(Children  to  the  nurse's  knee) 
Come  the  billows  fresh  and  free, 
Breathing  Immortality. 


68  THE    MIST 


M 


LIFE 

E,  in  the  midst  of  dateless  centuries, 

By  Love  concealed, 
Now,  newly  swathed  in  mortal  destinies, 
Hath  Time  revealed. 

A  breathing  space,  a  silence,  and  behold 

What  I  have  been, 
Unswathed,  the  circling  centuries  enfold, 

Again  unseen. 

With  Days  and  Nights  brief  fellowship  was  mine; 

But  unto  thee 
I  come,  a  child  inseparably  thine, 

Eternity. 


THE   BUBBLE  69 


THE  TRUANT 

LISTEN!  'tis  the  Rain 
Coming  home  again ; 
Not  as  when  he  went  away, 
Silent,  but  in  tears  to  say 

He  is  sorry  to  have  gone 

With  the  Mist  that  lured  him  on ; 

And  he  promises  anew 

Nevermore  the  like  to  do. 
Alas!   no  sooner  shines  the  sun 
Than  the  selfsame  deed  is  done. 


THE  BUBBLE 

WHY  should  I  stay  ?  Nor  seed  nor  fruit  have  I ; 
But,  sprung  at  once  to  beauty's  perfect  round, 
Nor  loss,  nor  gain,  nor  change  in  me  is  found, — 
A  life-complete  in  death-complete  to  die. 


jo  THEBROOK 


THE  BROOK 

IT  is  the  mountain  to  the  sea 
That  makes  a  messenger  of  me  : 
And,  lest  I  loiter  on  the  way 
And  lose  what  I  am  sent  to  say, 
He  sets  his  reverie  to  song 
And  bids  me  sing  it  all  day  long. 
Farewell!  for  here  the  stream  is  slow, 
And  I  have  many  a  mile  to  go. 


THE  MIST 

EURYDICE  eludes  the  dark 
To  follow  Orpheus,  the  Lark 
That  leads  her  to  the  dawn 

With  rhapsodies  of  star-delight, 
Till,  looking  backward  in  his  flight, 
He  finds  that  she  is  gone. 


THE   LAKE  71 


THE  LAKE 

I  AM  a  lonely  woodland  lake: 
The  trees  that  round  me  grow, 
The  glimpse  of  heaven  above  me,  make 
The  sum  of  all  I  know. 

The  mirror  of  their  dreams  to  be 

Alike  in  shade  and  shine, 
To  clasp  in  Love's  captivity, 

And  keep  them  one — is  mine. 


72  ICE 


ICE 

I  ONCE  was  water,  and  again 
My  former  self  shall  be; 
No  keep  of  Cold 
May  captive  hold 

A  spirit  of  the  Sea. 
Beyond  this  prison-wall  of  Pain, 

So  echoless  and  chill, 
Despite  his  guardsmen  Frost  and  Snow, 
Anon  through  Dimple-gate  I  go 

To  wander  where  I  will. 


ASUNSET  73 


A  SUNSET 

WHAT  means  it,  Lord?  No  Daniel 
In  Nature's  banquet-hall 
Appears,  thy  messenger,  to  spell 
The  writing  on  the  wall. 

Is  it  the  Babylonian  doom, 

A  kingdom  passed  away, 
A  midnight  monarch  to  assume 

The  majesty  of  Day? 


74  MIDNIGHT 


MIDNIGHT 

A  FLOOD  of  darkness  overwhelms  the  land; 
And  all  that  GOD  had  planned, 
Of  loveliness  beneath  the  noonday  skies, 
A  dream  o'ershadowed  lies. 

Amid  the  universal  darkness  deep, 
Only  the  Isles  of  sleep, 
As  did  the  dwellings  of  the  Israelite 
In  Egypt,  stem  the  night. 

AUTUMN 

NOW  at  the  aged  Year's  decline, 
Behold  the  messenger  divine 
With  Love's  celestial  countersign — 
The  sacrament  of  bread  and  wine. 


OCTOBER  75 


OCTOBER 

BEHOLD,  the  fleeting  swallow 
Forsakes  the  frosty  air; 
And  leaves,  alert  to  follow, 
Are  falling  everywhere, 
Like  wounded  birds,  too  weak 
A  distant  clime  to  seek. 

And  soon  with  silent  pinions 
The  fledglings  of  the  North 

From  winter's  wild  dominions 
Shall  drift,  affrighted,  forth, 

And,  phantom-like,  anon 

Pursue  the  phantoms  gone. 


76  DECEMBER 


INDIAN  SUMMER 

NO  more  the  battle  or  the  chase 
The  phantom  tribes  pursue, 
But  each  in  its  accustomed  place 

The  Autumn  hails  anew: 
And  still  from  solemn  councils  set 

On  every  hill  and  plain, 
The  smoke  of  many  a  calumet 
Ascends  to  heaven  again. 


DECEMBER 

ULL  sky  above,  dead  leaves  below; 
'And  hungry  winds  that  winding  go, 
Like  faithful  hounds  upon  the  track 
Of  one  beloved  that  comes  not  back. 


D 


FALL  OF  THE  SPARROW      77 


THE  LARK 

HE  rose,  and  singing  passed  from  sight- 
A  shadow  kindling  with  the  sun, 
His  joy  ecstatic  flamed,  till  light 
And  heavenly  song  were  one. 


THE  FALL  OF  THE  SPARROW 

ARE  you  dying,  little  Bird  ? 
"Yea;  the  song  so  often  heard, 
And  the  gift  of  suffering, 
Back  to  GOD  again  I  bring. 

"  All  in  each,  and  each  in  all, 
Counting  in  the  Sparrow's  fall, 
By  the  power  of  sinless  pain 
(His  and  ours)  He  cleanseth  stain. 
Suffering,  He  deigned  to  die 
Poor  and  innocent  as  I." 


78  THEMARSH 


THE  MARSH 

THE  woods  have  voices,  and  the  sea 
Her  choral-song  and  threnody: 
But  thou  alike  to  sun  and  rain 
Dost  mute  and  motionless  remain. 

As  pilgrim  to  the  shrine  of  Sleep, 
Through  all  thy  solemn  spaces  creep 
The  Tides — a  moment  on  thy  breast 
To  pause  in  sacramental  rest; 
Then,  flooded  with  the  mystery, 
To  sink  reluftant  to  the  sea, 
In  landward  loneliness  to  yearn 
Till  to  thy  bosom  they  return. 


BETRAYAL  79 


FULFILMENT 

NO  bloom  forgotten!  but  upon  each  face 
The  dews  baptismal,  and  the  selfsame  sign 
Of  Night's  communion,  that  the  fervid  gaze 
Of  Paschal  Morning  changes  into  wine. 


BETRAYAL 
"TTTHOM I  shall  kiss?"  I  heard  a  Sunbeam  say, 

V V  "  Take  him  and  lead  away ! " 
Then,  with  the  Traitor's  salutation,  "Hail!" 
He  kissed  the  Dawn-Star  pale. 


8o       THE   MIDDAY  MOON 


w 


THE  DAYSPRING 

HAT  hand  with  spear  of  light 
Hath  cleft  the  side  of  Night, 
And  from  the  red  wound  wide 
Fashioned  the  Dawn,  his  bride 

Was  it  the  deed  of  Death  ? 
Nay,  but  of  Love,  that  saith, 
"  Henceforth  be  Shade  and  Sun, 
In  bonds  of  Beauty,  one." 


THE  MIDDAY  MOON 

BEHOLD,  whatever  wind  prevail, 
Slow  westering,  a  phantom  sail — 
The  lonely  soul  of  Yesterday — 
Unpiloted,  pursues  her  way. 


MEADOW   FROGS  81 


MEADOW  FROGS 

ERE  yet  the  earliest  warbler  wakes 
Of  coming  spring  to  tell, 
From  every  marsh  a  chorus  breaks — 

A  choir  invisible — 
As  though  the  blossoms  underground 
A  breath  of  utterance  had  found. 

Whence  comes  the  liquid  melody  ? 

The  summer  clouds  can  bring 
No  fresher  music  from  the  sky 

Than  here  the  marshes  sing. 
Methinks  the  mists  about  to  rise 
Are  chanting  their  rain  prophecies. 


82  FERNSONG 


FERN  SONG 

DANCE  to  the  beat  of  the  rain,  little  Fern, 
And  spread  out  your  palms  again, 

And  say,  "  Tho'  the  sun 

Hath  my  vesture  spun, 
He  had  laboured,  alas,  in  vain, 

But  for  the  shade 

That  the  Cloud  hath  made, 
And  the  gift  of  the  Dew  and  the  Rain." 

Then  laugh  and  upturn 

All  your  fronds,  little  Fern, 
And  rejoice  in  the  beat  of  the  rain! 


BABY'S   DIMPLES  83 


WINTER  TREES 

LIKE  champions  of  old, 
Their  garments  at  their  feet, 
Defiant  of  the  cold, 

The  wrestling  winds  they  meet 
Anon,  if  victors  found, 
With  vernal  trophies  crowned. 


BABY'S  DIMPLES 

LOVE  goes  playing  hide-and-seek 
'Mid  the  roses  on  her  cheek, 
With  a  little  imp  of  Laughter, 
Who,  the  while  he  follows  after, 
Leaves  the  footprints  that  we  trace 
All  about  the  Kissing-place. 


A   BUNCH    OF    ROSES 


A  BUNCH  OF  ROSES 

THE  rosy  mouth  and  rosy  toe 
Of  little  baby  brother 
Until  about  a  month  a  ago 

Had  never  met  each  other; 
But  nowadays  the  neighbours  sweet, 

In  every  sort  of  weather, 
Half-way  with  rosy  fingers  meet, 
To  kiss  and  play  together. 


TOASTAR  85 


TO  A  STAR 

AM  I  the  only  child  awake 
Beneath  thy  midnight  beams? 
If  so,  for  gentle  Slumber's  sake, 
The  brighter  be  their  dreams! 

But  shouldst  thou,  travelling  the  deep, 

The  silent  angel  see 
That  puts  the  little  ones  to  sleep, 

Bright  star,  remember  me! 


86  MILTON 


BEETHOVEN  AND  ANGED 

ONE  made  the  surging  sea  of  tne 
Subservient  to  his  rod: 
One,  from  the  sterile  womb  of  sto:, 
Raised  children  unto  GOD. 


MILTON 

SO  fair  thy  vision  that  the  nigl 
Abided  with  thee,  lest  the  ligl: 
A  flaming  sword  before  thine  eye 
Had  shut  thee  out  from  Paradise. 


SHELLEY  87 


SHELLEY 

AT  Shelley's  birth 

JT-The  Lark,  dawn-spirit,  with  an  anthem  loud 
Ro;  from  the  dusky  earth 
ro  tell  it  to  the  Cloud, 

Tht,  like  a  flower  night-folded  in  the  gloom, 
Bu;t  into  morning  bloom. 

At  helley's  death 

"he  Sea,  that  deemed  him  an  immortal,  saw 
A  od's  extinguished  breath, 

Jid  landward,  as  in  awe, 
Upore  him  to  the  altar  whence  he  came, 
An  the  rekindling  flame. 


88  SHELLEY 


SHELLEY  IN  NATURE 

SHELLEY,  the  ceaseless  music  of  thy  soul 
Breathes  in  the  Cloud  and  in  the  Skylark's  song, 

That  float  as  an  embodied  dream  along 
The  dewy  lids  of  morning.  In  the  dole 
That  haunts  the  West  Wind,  in  the  joyous  roll 

Of  Arethusan  fountains,  or  among 

The  wastes  where  Ozymandias  the  strong 
Lies  in  colossal  ruin,  thy  control 
Speaks  in  the  wedded  rhyme.  Thy  spirit  gave 

A  fragrance  to  all  nature,  and  a  tone 
To  inexpressive  silence.  Each  apart — 

Earth,  Air  and  Ocean — claims  thee  as  its  own; 
The  twain  that  bred  thee,  and  the  panting  wave 
That  clasped  thee,  like  an  overflowing  heart. 


KEATS  — SAPPHO  89 


KEATS— SAPPHO 

METHINKS,  when  first  the  nightingale 
Was  mated  to  thy  deathless  song, 
That  Sappho  with  emotion  pale, 

Amid  the  Olympian  throng, 
Again,  as  in  the  Lesbian  grove, 

Stood  listening  with  lips  apart, 
To  hear  in  thy  melodious  love 
The  pantings  of  her  heart. 


90        POE'S   PURGATORY 


POE'S  PURGATORY 

ALL  others  rest ;  but  I 
Dream-haunted  lie — 
A  distant  roar, 

As  of  tumultuous  waters,  evermore 
About  my  brain. 

E'en  Sleep,  tho'  fain 
To  soothe  me,  flies  affrighted,  and  alone 
I  bear  the  incumbent  stone 

Of  Death 
That  stifles  breath, 

But  not  the  hideous  chorus  crying  "Shame  !" 
Upon  my  name. 

Had  I  not  Song  ? 
Yea ;  and  it  lingers  yet 

The  souls  to  fret 
Of  an  ignoble  throng, 

Aflame  with  hate 
Of  the  exulting  Fate 
That  hurls  their  idols  from  her  temple  fair, 

And  shrines  me  there. 


SILENCE  91 


SILENCE 

TEMPLE  of  GOD,  from  all  eternity 
Alone  like  Him  without  beginning  found; 
Of  time  and  space  and  solitude  the  bound, 
Yet  in  thyself  of  all  communion  free. 
Is,  then,  the  temple  holier  than  He 

That  dwells  therein  ?  Must  reverence  surround 
With  barriers  the  portal,  lest  a  sound 
Profane  it?  Nay;  behold  a  mystery! 

What  was,  abides;  what  is,  hath  ever  been: 

The  lowliest  the  loftiest  sustains. 
A  silence,  by  no  breath  of  utterance  stirred — 

Virginity  in  motherhood — remains, 
Clear,  'midst  a  cloud  of  all-pervading  sin, 

The  voice  of  Love's  unutterable  word. 


92 


DAYBREAK 


DAYBREAK 

WHAT  was  thy  dream,  sweet  Morning  r  for, 
behold, 

Thine  eyes  are  heavy  with  the  balm  of  night, 
And,  as  reluctant  lilies  to  the  light, 
The  languid  lids  of  lethargy  unfold. 
Was  it  the  tale  of  Yesterday  retold — 

An  echo  wakened  from  the  western  height, 
Where  the  warm  glow  of  sunset  dalliance  bright 
Grew,  with  the  pulse  of  waning  passion,  cold  r 

Or  was  it  some  heraldic  vision  grand 
Of  legends  that  forgotten  ages  keep 

In  twilight,  where  the  sundering  shoals  of  day 
Vex  the  dim  sails,  unpiloted,  of  Sleep, 

Till,  one  by  one,  the  freighting  fancies  gay, 
Like  bubbles,  vanish  on  the  treacherous  strand  ? 


GLIMPSES  93 


GLIMPSES 

AS  one  who  in  the  hush  of  twilight  hears 
The  pausing  pulse  of  Nature,  when  the  Light 
Commingles  in  the  dim  mysterious  rite 
Of  Darkness  with  the  mutual  pledge  of  tears, 
Till  soft,  anon,  one  timorous  star  appears, 
Pale-budding  as  the  earliest  blossom  white 
That  comes  in  Winter's  livery  bedight, 
To  hide  the  gifts  of  genial  Spring  she  bears — 

So,  unto  me — what  time  the  mysteries 

Of  consciousness  and  slumber  weave  a  dream 

And  pause  above  it  with  abated  breath, 
Like  intervals  in  music — lights  arise, 

Beyond  prophetic  Nature's  farthest  gleam, 
That  teach  me  half  the  mystery  of  Death. 


94 HOMELESS 


M 


HOMELESS 

ETHINKS  that  if  my  spirit  could  behold 
•  Its  earthly  habitation  void  and  chill, 
Whence  all  its  time-encircled  good  and  ill 
Expanded  to  eternity,  'twould  fold 
Its  trembling  pinions  o'er  the  bosom  cold, 
Recalling  there  the  pulse's  wonted  thrill, 
And  lean,  perchance,  to  catch  the  echo  still 
That  erst  in  life  the  dream  of  passion  told. 

How  calm  the  dissolution!  Could  she  spurn 
Her  spouse,  so  late,  and  brother?  Could  she  trace 

The  strange  familiar  lineaments,  and  mark 
The  doom  of  her  own  writing  in  the  face, 

To  find,  alas!  no  more  the  vital  spark, 
Nor  breathe  one  sigh  of  pity  to  return? 


UNMOORED  95 


UNMOORED 

TO  die  in  sleep — to  drift  from  dream  to  dream 
Along  the  banks  of  slumber,  beckoned  on 
Perchance  by  forms  familiar,  till  anon, 
Unconsciously,  the  ever-widening  stream 
Beyond  the  breakers  bore  thee,  and  the  beam 
Of  everlasting  morning  woke  upon 
Thy  dazzled  gaze,  revealing  one  by  one 
Thy  visions  grown  immortal  in  its  gleam. 

O  blessed  consummation!  thus  to  feel 
In  Death  no  touch  of  terror.  Tenderly 

As  shadows  to  the  evening  hills,  he  came 
In  garb  of  GOD'S  dear  messenger  to  thee, 

Nor  on  thy  weary  eyelids  broke  the  seal, 

In  reverence  for  a  brother's  holier  name. 


96  THEAGONY 


THE  AGONY 

I  WRESTLED,  as  did  Jacob,  till  the  dawn, 
With  the  reludlant  Spirit  of  the  Night 
That  keeps  the  keys  of  Slumber.  Worn  and 

white, 

We  paused  a  panting  moment,  while  anon 
The  darkness  paled  around  us.  Thereupon — 
His  mighty  limbs  relaxing  in  affright — 
The  Angel  pleaded:  "Lo,  the  morning  light! 
O  Israel,  release  me,  and  begone ! " 

Then  said  I,  "Nay,  a  captive  to  my  will 
I  hold  thee,  till  the  blessing  thou  dost  keep 
Be  mine."  Whereat  he  breathed  upon  my  brow; 

And,  as  the  dew  upon  the  twilight  hill, 
So  on  my  spirit,  over-wearied  now, 
Came  tenderly  the  benediction,  Sleep. 


THE   PETREL  97 


THE  PETREL 

A  WANDERER    o'er  the    sea-graves    ever 
green, 

Whereon  the  foam-flowers  blossom  day  by  day, 
Thou  flittest  as  a  doomful  shadow  gray 
That  from  the  wave  no  sundering  light  can  wean. 
What  wouldst  thou  from  the  deep  unfathomed 

glean, 

Frail  voyager?  and  whither  leads  thy  way? 
Or  art  thou,  as  the  sailor  legends  say, 
An  exile  from  the  spirit-world  unseen? 

Lo!  desolate,  above  a  colder  tide, 

Pale  Memory,  a  sea-bird  like  to  thee, 

Flits  outward,  where  the  whitening  billows  hide 
What  seemed  of  Life  the  one  reality — 

A  mist  whereon  the  morning  bloom  hath  died, 
Returning,  ghost-like,  to  the  restless  sea. 


THE   PORTRAIT 


THE  PORTRAIT 

EACH  has  his  Angel-Guardian.  Mine,  I  know, 
Looks  on  me  from  that  pictured  face.  Behold, 
How  clear,  between  those  rifted  clouds  of  gold, 
The  radiant  brow  !  It  is  the  morning  glow 
Of  innocence,  ere  yet  the  heart  let  go 

The  leading-strings  of  heaven.    Upon  the  eyes 
No  shadow:  like  the  restful  noonday  skies 
They  sanctify  the  teeming  world  below. 

Why  bows  my  soul  before  it  ?  None  but  thou, 

O  tender  child,  has  known  the  life  estranged 
From  thee  and  all  that  made  thy  days  of  joy 
The  measure  of  my  own.  Behold  me  now — 
The  man  that  begs  a  blessing  of  the  boy — 
His  very  self;  but  from  himself  how  changed  ! 


THE    BOY  BISHOP  99 


THE  BOY  BISHOP 

GAME,  Marcellus  ! "  "Well,  what  shall 

it  be? 
Let's  play  we're  Christians."  And  with  one 

accord 

The  children  grouped  around  their  mimic  lord, 
Marcellus,  throned  as  Sovereign  Pontiff.  He 
The  part  so  often  played  in  mockery 

With  solemn  rite  enacted — word  for  word 
Repeating  as  on  each  in  turn  he  poured 
The  waters  of  a  new  Nativity. 

Then  burst  the  thunders  of  an  edict.  Rome 
Trembled,  and  all  her  gods  offended  frowned, 

Foreshadowing  the  hurricane  to  be. 

Men  faltered;  but  among  the  faithful  found — 

The  yeanlings  of  the  flock — with  martyrdom 
Marcellus  and  his  neophytes  were  crowned. 


ioo  ASLEEP 


ASLEEP 

NAY,  wake  him  not ! 
Unfelt  our  presence  near, 
Nor  falls  a  whisper  on  his  dreaming  ear: 
He  sees  but  Sleep's  celestial  visions  clear, 
All  else  forgot. 

And  who  shall  say 
That,  in  life's  waking  dream, 
There  be  not  ever  near  us  those  we  deem 
(As  now  our  faces  to  the  Sleeper  seem) 

Far,  far  away  ? 


ST  AFRA  TO  THE  FLAMES     101 


H 


ST  AFRA  TO  THE  FLAMES 

ERE,  on  the  prey  of  passion,  famished  Flames, 
Feed  here!  Spare  not  your  victim.  Torture 

tames 

The  wanton  flesh  rebellious.  Let  the  heat 
Of  these  your  fierce  caresses  free  the  feet 
And  loose  the  fettered  pinions  of  desire. 
Delay  not!   Leap  the  barriers  and  fire 
The  citadel,  the  heart.  A  flame  is  there 
To  which  your  kiss  is  coldness.  Clothe  me  fair, 
O  CHRIST,  with  purple  penance.  Crown  me  queen 
Of  agonies  that  cleave  all  mists  between 

My  GOD  and  me!   Life's  vintage  drop  by  drop 
Fast  fills  the  destined  measure  of  my  cup. 
Quaff,  LORD,  my  potion!  Pledge  me,  and  Thy 

breath 
Shall  sweeten  all  the  bitterness  of  death. 


102     THE   INTERPRETER 


AN  INTERPRETER 

WHAT,  O  Eternity, 
Is  Time  to  thee? — 
What  to  the  boundless  All 
My  portion  small? 

Lift  up  thine  eyes,  my  soul! 
Against  the  tidal  roll 

Stands  many  a  stone, 

Whereon  the  breakers  thrown 
Are  dashed  to  spray — 
Else  were  the  Ocean  dumb. 

So,  in  the  way 

Of  tides  eternal,  thou 

Abidest  now; 
And  GOD  himself  doth  come 

A  suppliant  to  thee, 

Love's  prisoned  thought  to  free. 


HOLY   GROUND  103 


EARTH'S  TRIBUTE 

FIRST  the  grain,  and  then  the  blade- 
The  one  destroyed,  the  other  made; 
Then  stalk  and  blossom,  and  again 
The  gold  of  newly  minted  grain. 

So  Life,  by  Death  the  reaper  cast 
To  earth,  again  shall  rise  at  last; 
For  'tis  the  service  of  the  sod 
To  render  GOD  the  things  of  GOD. 


HOLY  GROUND 

PAUSE  where  apart  the  fallen  sparrow 
lies, 

And  lightly  tread; 

For  there  the  pity  of  a  Father's  eyes 
Enshrines  the  dead. 


104  INSOMNIA 


THE  HOUSEHOLDERS 

NE  plucked  the  grape,  and  trod  the  wine, 


o 


And  headlong  rushed  the  sotted  swine 

To  perish  in  the  sea. 

One  blessed  the  cup,  and  poured  the  blood, 
And  lo!  about  His  banquet  stood 

The  brides  of  Chastity. 


INSOMNIA 

E'EN  this,  LORD,  didst  Thou  bless — 
This  pain  of  sleeplessness — 
The  livelong  night, 

Urging  GOD'S  gentlest  angel  from  Thy  side, 
That  anguish  only  might  with  Thee  abide 
Until  the  light. 

Yea,  e'en  the  last  and  best, 
Thy  victory  and  rest, 

Came  thus  to  Thee; 

For  'twas  while  others  calmly  slept  around, 
That  Thou  alone  in  sleeplessness  wast  found, 

To  comfort  me. 


BARTIMEUS  TO  THE  BIRD   105 


ANONYMOUS 

A   NONYMOUS— nor  needs  a  name 
-A\.To  tell  the  secret  whence  the  flame, 
With  light,  and  warmth,  and  incense,  came 
A  new  creation  to  proclaim. 

So  was  it  when,  His  labour  done, 
GOD  saw  His  work,  and  smiled  thereon; 
His  glory  in  the  picture  shone, 
But  name  upon  the  canvas,  none. 


BARTIMEUS  TO  THE  BIRD 

HAD  I  no  revelation  but  thy  voice — 
No  word  but  thine — 
Still  would  my  soul  in  certitude  rejoice 

That  love  divine 

Thy  heart,  his  hidden  instrument,  employs, 
To  waken  mine. 


io6  AT   SEA 


THE  OLD  PASTOR 

HOW  long,  O  LORD,  to  wait 
Beside  this  open  gate  ? 
My  sheep  with  many  a  lamb 
Have  entered,  and  I  am 
Alone,  and  it  is  late. 


AT  SEA 

THY  beauty  fills  each  bubble-dome 
Upon  the  waters  wide: 
So  may  it  in  Thy  lowliest  home — 
My  bosom — LORD,  abide. 


ALL   IN   ALL 


107 


T 


STILLING  THE  TEMPEST 
WAS  all  she  could: — The  gift  that  Nature 


eave. 


The  torrent  of  her  tresses,  did  she  spill 
Before  His  feet:  and  lo,  the  troubled  wave 

Of  passion  heard  His  whisper,  "Peace  be  still!" 


ALL  IN  ALL 

WE  know  Thee,  each  in  part — 
A  portion  small; 
But  love  Thee,  as  Thou  art — 

The  All  in  all: 

For  Reason  and  the  rays  thereof 
Are  starlight  to  the  noon  of  Love. 


io8         THE   GOOD   SEED 


T 


THE  GOOD  SEED 

HE  Magi  came  to  Bethlehem, 
The  House  of  Bread,  and  following  them, 
As  they  the  Star,  I  too  am  led 
To  CHRIST,  the  living  House  of  Bread. 


A  pilgrim  from  the  hour  of  birth, 
The  night-cold  bosom  of  the  earth 

I  traversed,  heavenward  journeying, 

A  hidden  prophecy  of  Spring 
My  only  guide,  a  lifted  blade 
My  only  weapon,  till  the  Shade, 

The  latest  to  withstand  me,  lay 

Death-smitten  at  the  door  of  Day. 

O  Light!  O  heavenly  Warmth!  to  you, 
My  cup-bearers,  I  quaffed  the  dew, 
The  pledge  and  sacramental  sign 
Of  Life  that  mingling  first  with  mine — 
A  sap-like  inspiration — ran 
To  mingle  with  the  life  of  man. 

As  leaped  the  Infant  in  the  womb, 
At  Mary's  voice,  e'en  so  to  bloom 
And  ripeness,  while  the  reapers  sang, 
My  soul — their  songs  inspiring — sprang 


THEGOODSEED          109 

To  meet  the  scythe,  the  flail,  the  stone 

Of  sacrifice,  whereby  alone, 

Through  waves  of  palpitating  flame, 
The  Bread  upon  the  altar  came. 

And  here,  O  mystery  of  Love ! 
Behold,  from  highest  heaven  above, 

Through  Me^  the  Son  of  GOD  again 

A  viftim  for  the  sons  of  men ! 


no     ANGEL'S  CHRISTMAS  QUEST 


THE  ANGEL'S  CHRISTMAS  QUEST 

"TTrHERE  have  ye  laid  my  LORD? 

VV  Behold,  I  find  Him  not! 
Hath  He,  in  heaven  adored, 

His  home  forgot  ? 
Give  me,  O  sons  of  men, 
My  truant  GOD  again !  " 

"  A  voice  from  sphere  to  sphere — 

A  faltering  murmur — ran, 
'Behold,  He  is  not  here! 

Perchance  with  Man, 
The  lowlier  made  than  we, 
He  hides  His  majesty.'  " 

Then,  hushed  in  wondering  awe, 
The  spirit  held  his  breath, 
And  bowed:  for,  lo,  he  saw 
O'ershadowing  Death, 
A  Mother's  hands  above, 
Swathing  the  limbs  of  Love! 


OUT   OF   BOUNDS         in 


THE  LAMB-CHILD 

WHEN  CHRIST  the  Babe  was  born, 
Full  many  a  little  lamb 
Upon  the  wintry  hills  forlorn 
Was  nestled  near  its  dam; 

And,  waking  or  asleep, 

Upon  His  Mother's  breast, 
For  love  of  her,  each  mother-sheep 

And  baby-lamb  He  blessed. 


OUT  OF  BOUNDS 

A  LITTLE  Boy  of  heavenly  birth, 
-/~\But  far  from  home  to-day, 
Comes  down  to  find  His  ball,  the  Earth, 
That  sin  has  cast  away. 

O  comrades,  let  us  one  and  all 
Join  in  to  get  Him  back  His  ball! 


ii2     A   LENTEN   THOUGHT 


A  LENTEN  THOUGHT 

ALONE  with  Thee,  who  canst  not  be  alone, 
At  midnight,  in  Thine  everlasting  day ; 
Lo,  less  than  naught,  of  nothingness  undone, 
I,  prayerless,  pray. 

Behold — and  with  Thy  bitterness  make  sweet, 

What  sweetest  is  in  bitterness  to  hide — 
Like  Magdalen,  I  grovel  at  Thy  feet, 
In  lowly  pride. 

Smite,  till  my  wounds  beneath  Thy  scourging 

cease; 

Soothe,  till  my  heart  in  agony  hath  bled  ; 
Nor  rest  my  soul  with  enmity  at  peace, 
Till  Death  be  dead. 


MATER   DOLOROSA       113 


ON  CALVARY 

IN  the  shadow  of  the  rood 
Love  and  Shame  together  stood  ; 
Love,  that  bade  Him  bear  the  blame 
Of  her  fallen  sister  Shame ; 
Shame,  that  by  the  pangs  thereof 
Bade  Him  break  His  Heart  for  Love. 


MATER  DOLOROSA 

AGAIN  maternal  Autumn  grieves, 
As  blood-like  drip  the  maple  leaves 
On  Nature's  Calvary. 
And  every  sap-forsaken  limb 
Renews  the  mystery  of  Him 
Who  died  upon  a  Tree, 


n4        EASTER    MORNING 


STABAT 

WHY,  O  my  GOD,  hast  Thou  forsake  Men? 
Not  so  my  Mother;  for  behold  and  see, 
She  steadfast  stands !  O  FATHER,  shall  it  be 
That  she  abides  when  Thou  forsakest  Me? 


RABBONI! 

',T  BRING  Thee  balm,  and  lo!  Thou  art  not 

A          here ! 

Twice  have  I  poured  mine  ointment  on  thy  brow, 
And   washed    Thy    feet    with    tears.   Disdain'st 

Thou  now 
The  spikenard  and  the  myrrh  ? 

"  Has  Death,  alas,  betrayed  Thee  with  a  kiss 
That  seals  Thee  from  the  memory  of  mine  ? " 
"Mary!"  It  is  the  selfsame  Voice  Divine. 

"Rabboni!" — only  this. 


EASTER   LILIES  115 


EASTER  MORNING 

BEHOLD,  the  night  of  sorrow  gone, 
Like  Magdalen  the  tearful  Dawn 
Goes  forth  with  love's  anointing  sweet, 
To  kiss  again  the  Master's  feet ! 


EASTER  LILIES 

THOUGH  long  in  wintry  sleep  ye  lay, 
The  powers  of  darkness  could  not  stay 
Your  coming  at  the  call  of  day, 
Proclaiming  Spring. 

Nay,  like  the  faithful  virgins  wise, 
With  lamps  replenished  ye  arise, 
Ere  dawn  the  death-anointed  eyes 
Of  CHRIST  the  king. 


n6       THE   ASSUMPTION 


EASTER  LAMBS 

OURS  is  the  echoed  cry 
Of  helpless  Innocents  about  to  die. 

Remembering  them 
In  Ramah  for  the  Lamb  of  Bethlehem 

Untimely  slain, 

We,  when  the  paschal  sacrifice  is  nigh, 
Lament  again. 


THE  ASSUMPTION 

BEHOLD!  the  mother  bird 
The  Fledgeling's  voice  hath  heard ! 
He  calls  anew, 

"  It  was  thy  breast 

That  warmed  the  nest 
From  whence  I  flew. 
Upon  a  loftier  tree 
Of  life  I  wait  for  thee; 
Rise,  mother-dove,  and  come, 
Thy  Fledgeling  calls  thee  home!" 


TRIUMPH  ii 


TRIUMPH 

DESPITE  the  North  Wind's  boast, 
Despite  the  muffled  host 
Of  hushing  snow, 
There  cometh  from  below 
Out  of  the  darkness  wakened,  one  by  one 
The  dreamers  of  the  Sun — 
Not  in  the  bleak  array 
Of  winter,  but  with  fragrant  banners  gay 
Leaping  the  barriers  strong 
Of  Ice,  and  loosing  Song, 
The  prisoner,  and  letting  go 
Long-fettered  Laughter,  as  the  shadowy  Foe 
Shrinks  from  the  echoing  cry 
Of  "Life  and  Victory!" 


n8  MY   ANGEL 


o 


MY  ANGEL 

LITTLE  child,  that  once  was  I, 
'And  still  in  part  must  be, 
When  other  children  pass  me  by, 
Again  thy  face  I  see. 

Where  art  thou?  Can  the  Innocence 
That  here  no  more  remains, 

Forget,  tho'  early  banished  hence, 
What  Memory  retains? 

Alas!  and  could'st  thou  look  upon 
The  features  that  were  thine, 

To  see  of  tender  graces  none 
Abiding  now  in  mine, 

Thy  heart  compassionate  would  plead, 

And,  haply,  not  in  vain, 
As  Angel  Guardian,  home  to  lead 

The  wanderer  again. 


TO  HER  THREE  DAYS'  CHILD     119 


TO  HER  THREE  DAYS'  CHILD 

I  ONLY,  its  mother,  have  known 
The  life  that  is  taken  away. 
As  the  grape  and  the  vine  have  we  grown 

Hour  by  hour,  day  by  day; 
Flesh  of  flesh,  blood  of  blood,  bone  of  bone. 

As  it  was,  evermore  must  it  be, 

O  Babe  from  thy  mother  removed; 

As  light  unto  shadow  are  we, 
Each  in  other  approved, 

Two  in  one,  and  in  GOD,  one  in  three. 


120        AVEATQUEVALE 


AVE  ATQUE  VALE 

WHERE  wast  thou,  little  song, 
That  hast  delayed  so  long 
To  come  to  me  ? 
"  Mute  in  the  mind  of  GOD: 
Till  where  thy  feet  had  trod, 
I  followed  thee." 


DATE  DUE 


HIGHSMITH   45-102  PRIN  TED  IN   U.S.  A. 


PS2966  M49  1907 
Tabb,  John  B.  1845-1909. 
A  selection  from  the  verses 
of  John  B.  Tabb 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    001  220  472  3 


